Perspective

Thanks very much, Rachel. Good morning, everyone. Really good to have you with us, whether you're present in person here at the church or joining us virtually.

It would be helpful if you've got a Bible, if you have that in front of you as we go through the passage.

I think one of the most difficult things for many people during lockdown has been having loved ones who they're really worried about,

but they've not been able to go and see or not certainly not be able to go and see as much as they would like to.

They've wanted to care for perhaps elderly relatives, to visit people in hospital or in nursing homes,

or perhaps these days to be able to see their student children.

And they haven't been able to and they've found it a real burden and have really worried about them.

Perhaps some of you are in that position.

Or perhaps you're at the other end of that, that you're the person that someone is really concerned about

and you want to say to them, look, don't worry, I'm all right, or maybe you don't.

Either way, it's very difficult.

And we're thrown back perhaps as never before on our trust in the Lord,

believing that he will work all things for his purposes.

And the thing that we can always do is come to him in prayer.

Now you might be saying, what's the relevance of that rather heavy introduction

to this wonderful passage in Ephesians?

Well, Paul's condition as he wrote this letter was very similar in many ways to what I've just described.

He was in prison and the people he was writing to, the church in Ephesus and perhaps others who received the letter,

they were worried about him and his circumstances.

And he wanted to say to them, look, don't worry, you shouldn't be worrying about me.

What's happening is all in God's purpose.

And so we have Paul's position as the starting point for this passage.

Now we're not going to go through it consecutively verse by verse,

and Paul's position is really in verse 1 and then again in verse 13.

And in both cases, he describes himself as a prisoner.

A prisoner, in fact, for the sake of the Gentiles.

Now if you remember the story of Paul, Paul went and he was the apostle to the Gentiles.

And when he went back to Jerusalem,

because he was seen as going against the Jewish law by some who wanted to stick rigidly to it,

and because he accepted the Gentiles as equals within the church,

he was arrested, he was imprisoned, he was taken to Rome.

Ultimately, he would be executed for his work for the Lord Jesus.

He wasn't quite at that stage here.

He was probably under house arrest, maybe in Rome.

Nevertheless, he was a prisoner and the people in Ephesus were worried about him,

perhaps particularly worried because he was suffering because of them,

because of what he had done for them.

And Paul wants to say to them,

don't worry about me.

Yes, I'm a prisoner.

Yes, I'm suffering for the gospel.

But there's a bigger picture here.

And when we look at the bigger picture,

the temporary, the present troubles come into some kind of perspective.

So I said, Paul's positioner, he's a prisoner.

He's a prisoner of the Romans probably at this stage.

He's in prison.

But look at verse 1.

Paul says,

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus.

Now, he doesn't say a prisoner for Christ Jesus.

That would have been quite correct.

He was suffering for the sake of the gospel,

for the sake of Christ Jesus.

But he says,

I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

And it may have been the Jews who got him arrested.

It may have been the Romans who had him in prison.

But actually, Paul says,

this is all part of God's purpose for me.

And I don't see myself as being just a prisoner of the Romans.

I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

I am doing it for his sake

and for the sake of the gospel.

And that makes it worthwhile.

He talks in Philippians about being able to participate

in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus.

And because he's doing it for the gospel,

Paul says,

that is really worthwhile.

And then verse 13,

at the other end of the passage,

he says,

I ask you, therefore,

not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you,

which are your glory.

That's quite a strange phrase, isn't it?

Which are your glory.

What does he mean by that?

Well, I think what Paul means

is that the fact that he's suffering

for the sake of the Gentiles

and the fact that he's willing to go through that

without complaint

shows just how important it is

that the Gentiles are now part of God's people.

And it gives them extra worth,

if you like,

that someone cares enough about them

that he is willing to suffer for them

because there is a huge principle at stake here

that the Gentiles, the non-Jews,

are welcomed into the church

on the same basis as the Jews.

So Paul is a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

It is part of his fellowship with the Lord,

suffering for him.

He is also someone who is showing the worth,

the value of us,

of those who were not born as Jews,

that in God's sight,

we are really important.

He's saying it is for your glory.

He saw beyond the immediate position he was in

and he saw the big picture.

And perhaps that's a lesson for us

if we are suffering in lockdown,

perhaps in the way I was describing earlier,

perhaps in other ways.

Yes, there is a lot that we could complain about

and we could say this is really,

really difficult.

But there is a bigger picture.

We don't know what it is.

We may know bits and pieces of it.

God knows the big picture

and God's purposes will be fulfilled

whatever happens.

Whatever position we're in,

we should be willing to put our trust in God

and to recognize that he is in control.

And we do that as we come to him in prayer.

Paul says to the Ephesians,

do not be discouraged.

And that reminded me of the old hymn.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged.

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Let's do that if we're struggling at the moment

in current circumstances.

Let's bring it to the Lord

and leave it with him

and seek his peace and his help in it.

But then in the other verses,

the ones in the middle

of what we've been looking at,

Paul expands a bit more

on what the big picture is.

So he's talked about his condition,

verses 1 and 13.

And the second thing I want to look at

is what I've called Paul's cognition.

Now I suspect cognition isn't a word

you use in everyday language

unless you have to be

an educational psychologist.

But what it simply means

is it's how we make sense

of the world round about us.

How we take what we see,

what we hear,

what we experience,

and we process it

to build our knowledge

and our understanding.

And Paul's talking here

about how he came to make sense

of this relationship

between the Jews

and the Gentiles in the church

and how all of us

are together in Christ.

Now last week

when we were looking at chapter 2

which also talks about a similar thing,

Graham made the very correct point

that this is not something new.

That as we go through the Old Testament

it foreshadows what is happening here.

For example,

in God's promises to Abraham

that all nations would be blessed through him.

And that's correct.

There's a continuity in Scripture.

There's nothing that's contradictory

in the Old and the New Testaments.

And yet, here Paul says,

actually there is something that's new.

What's new is our understanding

of God's purposes.

It used to be a mystery.

It is a mystery, he says.

But in the biblical context,

a mystery is not something

we don't understand

that we've got to go away

and try and solve.

A mystery is something

that was previously hidden

that people in the past

didn't understand

but has now been revealed to us.

And Paul says,

God has revealed this mystery to me.

And we will be looking in a few minutes

at exactly what that mystery is.

But for the moment,

we're looking at how Paul

came to understand it.

And he says,

this mystery was made known to me

by revelation.

It was revealed by the Spirit

to God's holy apostles and prophets.

And that would include Paul, of course.

Now, we don't know

how it was revealed to Paul.

Did he have some kind of vision

like Peter did

when the cloth came down

and he saw the different foods on

and God taught him

that the Gentiles were able

to be part of the church

as well as the Jews?

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

Perhaps it's just

there was a sudden insight

that he got

as he was thinking,

as he was studying God's word.

And he came to understand

the significance

of the Gentiles

coming into the church.

And I'm sure you spent

a lot of time then

studying it

and building up

the theology of it,

if you like.

But it was revealed to him

by God

and he came to understand it

through the Spirit of God.

Now, as Paul's condition,

what about our cognition?

How do we come to view

the world around us

and to make sense of it?

Well, there are two ways

that God does it,

two principal ways

that God does it.

One is through the Bible.

The Bible is God's revelation to us.

We are not going to have

new theologies being developed today

because it is all there

in the Scripture.

God has given it to us.

But we also need God's Spirit

working in us

and teaching us

and drawing us

to the Lord Jesus.

Reading our Bible

isn't just an intellectual exercise.

It's not just something

we read like we would

a scientific textbook

or something like that.

Reading the Bible

is allowing God

to speak to us,

to reveal himself to us,

and to come to understand

more about him

and about the world around us

as the Spirit

make us clear to us.

And as we come to read the Bible,

whether it's in church

or whether it's at home

in our quiet time

or who's typically

sitting down to study,

we should be praying

that God's Spirit

will open up the Word to us

and reveal the mysteries,

the things that were

previously hidden,

perhaps previously hidden,

to us as well,

and that we will understand them,

what God is saying to us.

Paul's condition

and Paul's cognition.

Third thing I want to look at

is what I've called

Paul's commission,

and that's mainly in verses

7 to 11.

Paul says,

I am a servant

of the gospel.

He says,

I have been given

the administration

of God's grace.

Paul's specific role

in the church

was to take

the message

of the gospel

to the Gentiles.

Now we know

what a commission is.

A commission is

where someone

is entrusted

with a responsibility

because they're deemed

to have the expertise

and the experience

to carry it out.

So an artist

is given a commission

to paint a portrait

of the queen,

or a soldier

is given a commission

to be an officer

in the army.

They're put

in a position

of trust

because they're

worthy of it.

Paul has been given

a commission here,

although he would say

in many ways

he wasn't worthy of it.

He says,

I'm the least

of God's people,

but he has been given

a commission

because he is the person

who has been chosen

by God

and has been

empowered by him

to preach

to the Gentiles.

Now as you go

through the passage,

there's a kind of

three-stage process

going on here.

So the first thing is

that God reveals

the mystery

to Paul.

So Paul comes

to understand

God's grace

to him

and to the Gentiles.

So the Gentiles

and the Jews

are one

in Christ Jesus.

That's stage one.

The second stage

is that Paul

takes what has been

revealed to him

and having been

commissioned to God,

he goes

and preaches it

to the Gentiles.

He goes

all over

the known world

and he preaches

the gospel

and he welcomes

into the church

everyone who believes

in the Lord Jesus.

Jew or Gentile,

they become part

of the church

of the Lord Jesus

throughout the then

known world.

But then

there's a third

stage in that

and that's in verse 10

if you have the passage

in front of you.

Because Paul says

his intent

was that now

through the church

the manifold wisdom

of God

should be made known

to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly realms.

So in other words

there's a revelation

to Paul,

there's Paul's preaching

to the Gentiles

or to anyone

who would listen to him

and the third stage

is that the church

becomes a witness

of God's grace

to what Paul calls

the rulers

and authorities.

Now probably

what Paul is thinking of

as the evil powers

and authorities

round about

that the church

is to them

a testimony

of the power of God

and of the fact

that God is in control

and is able to bring

all things

and all people

to himself

as they trust

in the Lord Jesus.

Paul's commission.

The challenge for us is

well what is

my commission?

what is it

that God

wants me

to do?

And if God

wants us

to do something,

if God is calling us

to do something,

he will equip us

for it.

Paul was well equipped

to be the apostle

to the Gentiles.

He was steeped

in Jewish tradition

and Jewish teaching

but at the same time

he came from

a Gentile city,

Tarsus,

and he was a Roman citizen.

He understood

both sides

and he was able

to talk equally

to Jews

and to Gentiles.

And he had

the spiritual insight

to be able

to understand

God's truths

and to be able

to communicate them.

So what is it

that God wants me

or wants you

to do for him?

And it will be different

for all of us.

Well I think

we can understand

it to some extent

if we look at

what is it

that God

has gifted us

to do.

What is the

experience

of our life?

What are the things,

the expertise,

the gifts

that we have been

given by God?

And can we use them

for his glory?

I look back

over my own life

and I see real parallels

between what I've done

in service,

direct service

for the Lord Jesus

and what I did

in my secular employment.

My training involved

being able

to analyse things,

to be able

to manage finance.

my job involved

taking things

that were fairly

complicated

and trying to

explain them simply

so that others

could understand them.

And as I look at

what I did

and what I do

in the church,

these things are

very relevant,

they've been helpful.

God has been

helping me

to build up

the gift

that he has given me

to be able

to use it hopefully

for his glory.

And the challenge

for all of us

is what is it

that God has

called us

and enabled us

to do.

And if he has

called us

and enabled us

to do something,

we need to do it.

There's no place

in the church

for lazy Christians.

All of us

are commissioned

to work

for the Lord Jesus.

Now for some people

that work

may be behind the scenes.

It may be

that your work

for the Lord Jesus

now

is to uphold

the church,

those who are

able to be more

actively involved

in prayer

and to bring them

before the Lord

and to encourage them

perhaps in their service.

For some of us,

what God has called us

to do

is to care for others,

to care for elderly parents

or an ill spouse

or to care for children.

And these are

high callings

from the Lord Jesus

and we should see them

as being part

of our service

for him

as well as

of our love

for others.

But for many of us,

there are things

that we could be doing

and should be doing

in the church

and in Christian service

and the question is

are we?

Are we using the gifts

that God

has given us?

And Paul presents this

in a very positive way.

He doesn't talk about

the work he's doing

as being a chore

or as being something

difficult.

Rather,

he talks about

the gift

of God's grace

that was given him.

Twice he uses

the word grace

in these verses.

And Paul is saying

being able

to serve the Lord Jesus

is a great privilege.

It's not us

giving to him.

It's us taking

what he's given to us

and benefiting from it

as we serve him.

And as we serve,

we never lose out.

If we faithfully

serve the Lord Jesus,

we do truly experience

his grace

in our lives.

And if we don't serve him,

we lose out

on that gift

that he's given us

and the ability

to serve him

and to live for him

as we should.

Paul's commission.

What is my commission

to serve

the Lord Jesus?

And then finally,

we thought of Paul's condition,

Paul's cognition,

Paul's commission,

and let's finish

with Paul's conviction.

And that is

at the heart

of the past.

I agree,

I've spoken some detail

about this last week,

so I'm not going to go

into as much detail

this morning,

but it's particularly

in verse 6

and then again

towards the end

of the passage

in verse 12.

What is this conviction

that Paul has

that is worth

suffering for,

that is worth

going to prison for,

that ultimately

will be worth

dying for.

And it's there

in verse 6,

this mystery,

this thing

that is now revealed

but was previously hidden,

is that through

the gospel,

the Gentiles,

people who aren't Jews,

are heirs together

with Israel,

members of the one body,

and sharers together

in the promise

of Christ Jesus.

Notice three words,

he says the word together.

We're heirs together,

we're members together,

we're sharers together.

In other words,

all the things

that God has in store

for us through Christ Jesus,

the inheritance

that is ours,

it is there equally

whatever our background.

There's no distinction

between Jews and Gentiles

or any other group.

It is only through faith

in the Lord Jesus.

Then we're members together.

We're one family,

we're one body

in the Lord Jesus.

And there is no distinction,

there is no discrimination

within that.

And we're sharers together

in the promise.

In other words,

we have the same hope

for the future

and the same understanding

of God with us.

There is no distinction.

Now, what Paul is talking about

specifically here,

the relationship between Jews

and Gentiles

and their equal acceptance

in the church

is theologically

very important,

but actually,

practically,

it probably doesn't mean

a lot to most of us

these days.

Most, if not all of us,

are Gentiles

and we probably

don't really think

that there's any distinction

between Jews

and Gentiles

when it comes

to the church.

But perhaps we need to

think a bit

wider than that

and to recognize

that anyone

who trusts in the Lord Jesus

through faith

is welcome in the church

and is part

of the body

of Christ.

There is

no distinction.

Christ died

for all those

who will trust in him

and accept him

as their savior

and follow him

as their Lord.

Doesn't matter

what your gender is,

what your age is,

what your race is,

what your abilities are,

what your wealth is,

what your life experience

has been,

these things

in many ways

are irrelevant

because when we come

to the Lord Jesus,

we all come

on the same basis,

recognizing that

we are,

as Paul says,

we are unworthy

to come to him

and yet he welcomes us

and he is willing

to forgive us

whatever we are

and whoever

we have been.

and we are accepted

into the church

on the same basis

and that those

who God has

joined together

as one

let us in no way

try to separate

or try to discriminate

or try to say

that one is better

than the other.

The Lord Jesus

accepts us all

on the basis

of faith in him

and is saving

death for us

on the cross

and we are one

in Christ Jesus.

Whether Jew,

Gentile,

or all the other things

I talked about,

in the Lord Jesus

there is no difference.

We are all accepted

on the same basis

and we all have

the same inheritance.

We all equally belong

in the body of Christ.

We all equally have

the same heavenly father

and that is Paul's conviction

that it is only

by faith in the Lord Jesus

and through the grace

of God

that we are accepted

into God's family

and there is nothing else

that we need to do

or to be in advance.

if we trust in Jesus

then we are part

of that great body

of the church

which the Lord Jesus

is building up

for his glory.

So Paul's condition,

Paul's cognition,

Paul's commission

and Paul's conviction.

Let's end

where we started.

We are living

in very difficult times.

I think for all of us

these times

are unprecedented

and they are not going

to get that much easier

very quickly.

I think everyone accepts

we are looking

at quite a long winter ahead

when things

will remain difficult.

And so it is really important

that we are able

to step back

from our immediate circumstances

and the things

that would bring us down,

the things that would

discourage us

and to fix our eyes

on the things

that really matter

and to recognize

that whatever

our current circumstances are

God knows them,

God cares about them

and we can draw strength

and encouragement

from him.

We shouldn't get discouraged

in our faith

when we face difficulties.

The difficulties

that we face

if we face them

in the strength

of the Lord Jesus

they will build up

our faith.

They will draw us

closer

to the Lord Jesus.

And so in these times

it becomes

more important

than ever

it's always vital

that we turn

to the Bible

and that we seek

to understand

what it is

that God is saying

to us

and to draw strength

and encouragement

from it.

It's important

that we look

round about us

and we say

well what can I do

for the Lord Jesus?

Are there things

I could be doing

at this time

that will help others?

Well there's things

in the church

helping with the

operation of the church

and the ministries

of the church

or whether it's

on more individual

basis

helping others.

What is it

that God is calling

is commissioning

me to do?

And we should

all of us

make sure

that we have

an understanding

of God's great grace

in the Lord Jesus

of all that he has

done for us

in sending his son

to die

on the cross

and make sure

that our trust

is in the Lord Jesus

and our confidence

is in him

that we're not

depending on ourselves

but we're trusting

in him for our future

and bringing it

to him

in prayer.

May that be

all of our experience.

Let's pray together.

Our Father

we thank you

for your word

to us today.

We thank you

for this tremendous

passage

where Paul presents

just the clarity

with which

you showed him

the greatness

of your grace.

That there is

no distinction

in coming

to the Lord Jesus.

Whether you are

Gentile

you accept us

equally

and we are

all one

together.

We pray that you

help us first of all

to ensure

that we belong

to the Lord

that our trust

is in him

and we are

following him

and living for him.

And then help us

in this difficult

time

to take

everything

to the Lord

and leave it

with him.

And if there are

things that concern us

and things

that we feel

perhaps there is

nothing we can

do about them.

We thank you

that you are

all powerful

and that you are

able to move

in every situation.

Help us to have

a real trust

in you

and to

live

our lives

knowing that

you care for us

and that you

work things

for our good.

We thank you

for your presence

with us this morning

as we worship

together

as we have

learned from you.

We ask for your

presence in the

coming week

in the name

of the Lord

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.